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New Signal Will Create Safe Crossing for Chinatown Pedestrians

The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) today announced the activation of a mid-block traffic signal along East Broadway between Catherine and Market Streets to provide a safe crossing for thousands of pedestrians along the heavily trafficked corridor. DOT engineers approved the signal following a study in February that found large numbers of pedestrians crossing the street in the middle of the 730-foot block and insufficient gaps in traffic for them to do so safely.

"Chinatown is one of the City's great pedestrian centers and this new signal will help make the neighborhood a safer place for the thousands of people who live, work and visit here," said Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. "I would like to personally thank Community Board Three and the Chinatown Partnership for working with DOT to improve pedestrian safety in Chinatown."

"We are absolutely thrilled and delighted," said Wellington Chen, Executive Director of the Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation. "DOT has done it again for Chinatown."

"This is a long block and a lot of people cross the street here," said Jimmy Cheng, President of the Fujianese-American Association. "DOT has done a very good job for the community here."

In December 2005 DOT installed a similar mid-block signal on the Campus of Baruch College where engineers observed hundreds of students crossing 25th Street between the Library and the Vertical Campus buildings.

The new signal in Chinatown will be activated on June 27, 2007 and will be accompanied by pedestrian signals, a striped cross walk and handicapped accessible pedestrian ramps.